soc mock 25th march Flashcards
4 basic points of explanations of corporate crime
strain theory
differential association
labelling theory
marxism
explain each point of explanations of corporate crime w theorists if necessary
strain theory -
box 1983
- like innovators trying to achieve society’s values & using theft to acquire it, corporations may employ illegal means of maximising profit if struggling to.
- studies show that law violations of large companies increased when their financial performance deteriorated
differential association -
Sutherland 1949
- if we associate with people holding criminal attitudes, more likely to be deviant ourselves; thus if a company’s culture justifies committing crimes to achieve corporate goals, employees will be socialised into this criminality, they are socialised (deviant subcultures)
- techniques of neutralisation - individuals can deviate more if they justify to neutralise moral obligation eg may blame the victim (they should’ve read the small print) or normalise say ‘everyone is doing it’
labelling theory -
- white collar mc are more able to negotiate labels eg ‘youthful high spirits’ instead of ‘vandalism’
- can afford lawyers to help avoid activities they’re involved in being labelled criminal to reduce seriousness of charges
marxism -
- because capitalisms goal is to maximise profits + causes harm eg death and injuries
- capitalist controls the state so can avoid making or enforcing laws
- corporations are criminogenic & show their true face in developing countries paying low wages im dangerous conditions
evaluations of marxism on crime 5
- ignores relationship between crime and non-class inequalities eg ethnicity and gender
- too deterministic; not all the poor are criminals
- not all capitalist societies have high crime rates eg homicide rate in japan and switzerland is 1/5 of the USA
- the system does sometimes act against the interests of capitalist class eg prosecutions in corporate crime do occur
- left-realists: ignores intra-class crimes where both the vicitm and criminal are wc eg mugging
3 right realist solutions for crime basic points
target hardening
broken windows
zero tolerance
how does the changing trends of relative deprivation change types of crime 2
- crime found all through social structure, not just bottom
- increase in hate crimes like racist attacks against asylum seekers
how are reactions to crime changing through late modernity 3
- more diverse, less public consensus or right or wrong so boundaries blurred.
- informal controls are less effective, families and communities disintegrate
- therefore makes the public more intolerant to crime wanting harsher punishments
evaluations of labelling theory/interactionism 4
- deterministic; implys once someone is labelled a deviant career is inevitable
- emphasises negative effects of labelling giving offenders victim status; realists argue ignores real victims of crime
- ignores fact that individuals may actively choose deviance
- implies without labelling deviance wouldn’t exist
